Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to be desperate for something.

1965		E. Bond Saved Scene iii: That age she must be ’angin’ out for it.
1970		Current Sl. V:3 8: Hanging out, v. To be sexually permissive; to make the fact known by actions.
1982		H. Beaton Outside In I ii: Come on, Ma, get off your high horse. You know you’re hanging out for a drop [of alcohol].
2007		D. McDonald Luck in the Greater West (2008) 69: She’d been hanging out for a smoke.

2. (Aus./N.Z. drugs) of an addict, to be desperate for drugs.

1982		G. Newbold Big Huey 14: As the price of normally cheap local gear inflated, junkies began hanging out for their normal supplies.
1986		Eve. Post (Wellington) 5 Apr. 19: This is how the methadone programme works. It..holds addicts, depending on their dosages, for about 24 hours, before they start hanging out. Ibid. Peter’s early-days addiction routine started with a ‘ping’ in the morning and a cup of coffee... The time of the day he started ‘hanging out’ depended on a number of factors [DNZE].
1997		L. Davies Candy 7: Hanging out? It’s the worst [...] Just don’t get a habit, Candy, and you won’t have to go through that.